Judith Colllins and John Key are probably toasting Shane Jones (and Murray McCully) right now: they Oravida conflict of interest controversy wasw pushed off the front pages when the heat was really. But information and marginalised news don’t easily disappear off the online record – including from Wikipedia. Collins also tried to slip a fast into the public arena as it turned to focus on ANZAC Day – a press release notifying of the delay of her decision on alcohol pricing: a statement that ignores the evidence and conclusions in a pricing review.

Last Wednesday morning, Adam Bennett reported in theNZ Herald that things weren’t looking so great for the minister. Collins was ducking and diving in response to seemingly contradictory statements about whether or not her dinner with Oradiva people in China, was a private event or not.

It seems the NZ Ambassador to China, Carl Worker did think there were potential political issues that may have been raised at the dinner – ones he wanted to be informed about

Ms Collins has refused to answer questions about the dinner late last year, attended by her friends and Oravida bosses Stone Shi and Julia Xu, on the grounds it was a private dinner.

But after denying in Parliament last week that she had spoken about the dinner with Mr Worker, she later told the Herald that she had not only discussed it with him afterwards, but he had also asked her to keep him informed of what was discussed.

[…]

Prime Minister John Key yesterday said he didn’t have details of Ms Collins’ discussions with Mr Worker about the dinner.

He said that if it was proved Ms Collins misled Parliament over her discussions she would have to formally correct her answers.

Surely this is an inadequate response from a PM in the light of the possibility of one of his ministers having misled parliament. Key, for whatever reason, has been in support of Collins and claimed she may just have misheard the question in the House. So the whole issue gets buried among the fudging and denials.

Meanwhile, over at Wikipedia, the Judith Collins page is being edited by someone to fudge the strength of the allegations against Collins. Roger Brooking has been keeping a watch on it, and posted his observations on his blog last Sunday. Brooking states:

She’s doing her best to cover up the identity of the Chinese government official who attended her now infamous dinner party in China – good luck with that!

But is she also trying to cover up the cover up as well? Her wikipedia page has a Reputation section about her ‘hardball’ manner and ‘take no prisoners’ attitude. But once Oravida is mentioned, the Wikipedia description of events begins to sour.

Brooking then goes on to catalogue the deletions:

This sentence has just been deleted: “It subsequently emerged that Collins travelled 30km in the opposite direction to the airport in order to drop in.” And the following paragraph, which goes into more detail about the Chinese government official, has been deleted entirely – by an editor calling himself (or herself) ‘Nick-D’. Who could that be?

This is part of the deleted section – a section that charts the unfolding of the Oravida controversy:

Amid on-going accusations of corruption and a conflict of interest from Winston Peters and Grant Robertson, Collins began avoiding the media waiting for her in the halls of parliament. Because her husband is a director of Oravida, she claimed the media were attacking her family but also said the attacks had ‘humanised’ her. She told the Weekend Herald: “I’ve never been seen as someone who was particularly human.”

Judith Collins seems to have generally become a little sensitive about how she is seen by the public. Collins, in her role as Justice Minister, revealed a non-decision on alcohol pricing, just before public and media attention swung towards ANZAC Day. On Thursday there was an announcement on her delay of a decision on alcohol pricing. Olivia Wannan reports today on Stuff:

Justice Minister Judith Collins’ decision to wait and see on a policy that could significantly reduce alcohol harm has been called election-year cowardice.

Minimum alcohol pricing – a scheme focused on cut-price liquor such as cask wine – could save the country an estimated $624 million in alcohol harm over a decade, a Justice Ministry report found.

The scheme, already established in Canada and voted through by the Scottish Parliament, sets a base price for alcoholic beverages based on the number of standard drinks per bottle.

“It’s designed to curb that really cheap access that makes alcohol available at pocket-money prices for young people.”

Trying to slip this under the public radar on Thursday, indicates Collins judged her decision to be either dodgy or unpopular. Surely this is a bit of a come down for a politician who thrives on media attention?

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32 comments on “Judith Collins: fudging evidence”

The decision ought to be popular with responsible people who knows where to stop drinking and who should have to pay for the excesses of a minority.
A sensible decision by Collins not to pander to the killjoys.

It worked for ciggies, idiot.
People who eat too much salt, sugar, fat etc don’t tend to go vandalise shops, beat up their missus or slam their can into a sober driver.
And it’s not your goddamn right to get pissed and do all those things. Because an innocent person is on the receiving end of your stupidity.

Yes, if done properly (a big if, with the wowser lobby constantly yapping for it not to be done properly), minimum pricing can affect only loss-leader sales. However, you missed the bit where you explain how it’s any of your or the government’s business if someone is willing to sell me something at a discount.

Alcohol as a loss leader in supermarkets is cynical. A big problem is that they compensate somewhat by keeping the prices relatively high on necessities like fruit and veges. And,this then impacts on pushing up the prices at fruit and vege shops.

What’s this?? BullshitMan sounds just a 17 year old alkie on Pocketmoney. Because any sane ADULT that has seen the damage that Alcohol can do will despair at yet another lost opportunity to rein in the cheap booze merchants.

And it does – useful stuff like licencing the producers and suppliers, applying standards, proscribing stuff like drunk driving. Telling supermarkets what discounts they’re allowed to apply doesn’t fall into the category of “useful.”

Please don’t present anti-alcohol lobbyists as objective commentators on alcohol policy – they’re not. They start from the position that getting drunk is a bad thing, which makes their studies straightforward exercises in confirmation bias. Williams, Sellman et al are just more liberal faces of the War on Drugs – the politics may be less conservative, but the authoritarian inclinations are the same. It pains me to say it, but for once Collins is doing the right thing.

clean power, it should be noted that some people do know better. especially the people who benefit from selling legalised addictive substances and those who sell food products injurious to good health.
Now you dont seem to know anything, do you?

anyway apart from the interjections from the national party toadies Judith Collins cant lie straight in bed.
Her total MO is to bully and lie and to hell with anyone that gets in the way. Its time for her and these other lowbrow thugs to get the push.
They aren’t interested in government per se. They are only interested in what they can extract for themselves.

Clean Power, tell me how many teenagers do you know? It is the damage that cheap alcohol is causing to them not concerns of puritanical wowsers , that is driving these concerns. Your attitude could be seen as selfish, pricing does limit teen drinking and traffic accidents. The research is very clear on ths point. Are we a community or a bunch of of indulgent consumers?

Crikey joe90! Do you mean that ORAVIDA and CRAFAR Farms and NATIONAL PARTY and DONATIONS and therefore Collins/Key are all directly connected.
Surely not because the perception or worse of collusion/corruption would reach even the least interested public and therefore voters. Still, I suppose it is all legal but the Perception could be very interesting couldn’t it?

Yes joe. They are showing their own people that they believe in nothing and stand for nothing except their own power.

” Empire often crumble when their own people become disillusioned and disgusted with massive discrepancy between what the ruling elites say and what they do and as a result, it is not so much that the Empire is faced with formidable enemies as it is the fact that nobody is willing to stand up – nevermind die – in defense of it. “

So those who can only afford bargain basement liqour after all the other costs of living get affects the most? This makes all the outrage about gst to 15% so phoney. In your haste to deny one sector of society a cheap way of abusing alcohol, you completely remove it from the grasp of those who enjoy it in moderation because that’s all they can afford to.

Small wonder authoritarian lefties are considered intellectual lightweights. Or nanny staters. Or middle class pseudo intellectual know it alls who can afford better so assume everyone else can.

You’ll be alongside us fighting for an immediate 30% rise in wages, and 50% in benefits then Tighty? Can’t have anyone missing out on that cheap crap you drink, can we? With the rises, they might even be able to buy food as well, at the prices that loss leading on alcohol and soft drinks pushes it up to.

So, did you not notice the comment above, about how loss leading alcohol prices affect prices of other goods like fruit and vegetables? Or maybe it just doesn’t matter to you that many people can’t afford regular supplies of these necessities… Oh, and let’s remember that the rest of us pay for the effects of alcohol abuse in a myriad of ways (traffic accidents. health costs, policing, family support systems…). On top of that, we also pay for the health problems caused by lack of adequate nutrition. Still, so long as you’re alright, mate, I guess we have nothing to worry about.

So, did you not notice the comment above, about how loss leading alcohol prices affect prices of other goods like fruit and vegetables?

There are instances in which how supermarkets choose to price their goods is the government’s business (eg cartel pricing). Offering product discounts isn’t one of those instances.

Oh, and let’s remember that the rest of us pay for the effects of alcohol abuse in a myriad of ways (traffic accidents. health costs, policing, family support systems…)

It always depresses me when leftists present user-pays arguments about the health system. Do we really want to go down a cost-recovery path for health care? It’s bad enough that we’ve done it with tobacco, without chucking alcohol in there as well. Do that, and what can you say when the right-wingers want fat people, lazy people, drug addicts, fornicators, sports players and sundry others to cover the costs of their treatment?

No, I don’t think that’s what happened at Wikipedia at all – the account of events has been streamlined, certainly, but the facts haven’t changed, nor the have the original cited sources. If the Wikipedia community considered it any kind of breach, they would be all over it by now because of the high profile. Brooking is a paranoid nutter. On Wikipedia style grounds I would question the relevance of 30km either way when one has travelled from the other side of the planet, and the deleted paragraph didn’t really contribute anything more to the summary of the case and gave it undue weight compared to the rest of the article. It’s an encyclopedia entry, not a PolSci essay.

Given my own experience with Wikipedia and Paula Bennett’s page, I believe Roger’s version. You, on the other hand, are a right wing nutter trying valiantly to disguise the fact. It seems very likely that the National Party has people who are paid to keep an eye on any changes made to politician’s pages. All I did was add how Paula had raised her daughter with help from her parents and a benefit, had tried working, but had found it far too difficult. All with citations. It was removed three times, with each argument more spurious than the last, and I gave up.

I think you should read Wikipedia’s POV guidelines, and the whole No True Scotscam shtick of accusing anyone who doesn’t buy one hundred percent into whatever you think being left is supposed to be of being some sort of right wing spy is tiresome and purile. Believe me, if I was some sort of fifth columnist for National I would be making more of an effort to agree with moronic utterances like yours. Given that politicians far more globally powerful than yon wee Judith Collins can’t cover up shit on Wikipedia suggests that you probably harbour paranoid delusions.

People need to be careful quoting Alcohol Healthwatch. On multiple occasions the spokesperson mentioned has been so single-minded in her loathing of all things related to alcohol to have plainly misused/concluded incorrectly statistics or made statements which are more “truthy” than provable.

As a government-funded organisation they appear to have developed a carte blanche attitude towards framing opinions as if they were fact, and probably encouraged by how often the media run to them for comment. You will never find a non-polar comment by them about alcohol.

I wonder if her husbands sits on the board of any alcohol companies or holds any shares in said companies… I’m sure their would have been a “private” dinner or two with that odd alcohol baron or two paid for.

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The Treasury has wasted $10 million in two years on the National Government's flawed state house sell off programme, including nearly $5.5 million on consultants, says Labour Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson. "New Zealand needs more state housing than ever, with ...

Yesterday, the Minister for Trade misused economic data in order to try to make the case for more so-called ‘trade agreements’ like the TPPA which are actually deregulatory straitjackets in disguise. In welcoming a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade ...

Wages have plummeted for people with skilled migrant visas working in low-skilled occupations, driving down wages for workers in a number of industries, says Labour’s Immigration Spokesperson Iain Lees-Galloway. “Documents acquired by Labour under the Official Information Act reveal that ...

The Government's failure to act on recommendations from Judge Henwood, based on years of work by the Confidential Listening and Assistance Service (CLAS) will further undermine any faith victims may have put into the process, says Labour’s Children’s Spokesperson Jacinda ...

National’s failure to deal with the housing crisis in New Zealand is once again being exposed by the Reserve Bank today, in a scathing assessment of the Government’s response, says Labour Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson “Governor Wheeler is clearly worried ...

On Friday, the Minister for Food Safety, along with her Australian colleagues finally looked at the issue of mandatory labelling of palm oil. We’ve been calling for mandatory labelling for years and we were hoping that the Ministers would agree ...

The ineffectiveness of the National Government’s approach to schooling has been highlighted by the latest Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) report released overnight, Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins says. ...

This week Parliament will select another members’ bill from the cookie tin (I kid you not, it really is a cookie tin) and I’ve just launched a new bill I’m hoping will get pulled – to help people get into ...

I want to end homelessness and ensure that everyone has a warm, safe, dry home. This National Government has let down New Zealanders, especially the thousands of New Zealanders who are struggling with something so basic and important as housing. ...

Kiwis affected by earthquakes might not get a fair deal if the Government pushes ahead with secret plans to let private insurers take over the assessment of claims, says Labour’s Canterbury spokesperson Megan Woods. “Under questioning from Labour the Government ...

The Prime Minister’s fixation with tax cuts, despite a failure to pay down any debt and growing pressure on public services is the real ‘load of nonsense’, says Labour Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson. “We’re getting mixed messages from National. John ...

Last week we were very concerned to hear that an Auckland imam, Dr Anwar Sahib, had been preaching divisive and derogatory messages about Jewish people and women during his sermons. It was a disturbing incident coming at the end of ...

Tairāwhiti says yes to a clean environment for our mokopuna today and for generations to come. Tairāwhiti are have a responsibility to uphold their mana motuhake over their land and their peoples and are calling on the Government to honour ...

Today the Greens have unveiled a comprehensive set of initiatives around the politically fraught policy area of drug law and reform, showing Moral courage on the issue of Medical Cannabis that has been lacking in parliament. ...

Friday 9 December marks International Anti-Corruption Day. This was established after the passage of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in October 2003 and came into being because of the UN's concerns over the huge dangers corruption poses ...

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling out those who are pushing for the implementation of a sugary drink tax as a ‘post-truth virtue signalling’ citing evidence that many of the claims being made about sugar taxes are demonstrably wrong. ...

“The current Government’s priorities for next year’s Budget say nothing about improving public services, yet deteriorating public services hurt working people as much as a pay cut,” says CTU Economist, Bill Rosenberg. ...

Corrections releases COTA reports To be attributed to Chief Custodial Officer Neil Beales: The United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture establishes an international inspection system for places of detention. The Ombudsmen has responsibility ...

I have today apologised to Mr Derek Leask and Mr Nigel Fyfe for issues identified by the Ombudsman relating to the Investigation into the Possible Unauthorised Disclosure of Information Relating to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and ...

I need to be clear that while the Ombudsman identified issues with fairness and process in the investigation and release of the final report, these concerns relate to one section of a wider report. ...

The union representing more than 900 ambulance officers says its members are pleased that St John has announced to staff it will begin interpreting the meal break provision differently, but they’re renewing their calls for more staff to help relieve ...

State Housing Action Network 7 December 2016 Media release: Overseas investors not welcome to buy Christchurch state houses The news that Housing New Zealand is holding an “invite-only” seminar in Sydney next week for potential buyers of state houses ...

The importance of good risk assessment and monitoring of offenders carrying out community work has been highlighted in today’s sentencing of the Corrections Department under the Health and Safety in Employment Act. ...

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi supports the decision by the Māori Women’s Welfare League to take a Treaty of Waitangi claim calling for a halt to the reforms to Child Youth and Family and shares the ...

Former New Zealand High Commissioner in London Derek Leask welcomes the formal decision by the State Services Commission (SSC) to accept the Ombudsman’s findings and recommendations on the SSC’s flawed 2012-13 Inquiry into the leaking of MFAT papers. ...

The new Board for Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) has been elected. The Board supersedes the Rural Women New Zealand National Council under new Rules and Bylaws ratified by the RWNZ membership at National Conference in 2015. ...

The Autistic Collective wholly supports the recent decision of the government to ban the practise of seclusion in schools. We also agree with statements made by Altogether Autism and the Human Rights Commission on the practise. ...

The New Zealand Government's proposal to take away legal responsibility for water fluoridation from local councils and give it to the District Health Boards could prove to be an exercise in futility. ...

Chief District Court Judge Jan Marie Doogue has entered a conviction against the Ministry of Social Development on a charge of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its employees. Judge Doogue declined an MSD application ...

The Public Service is working through the implications of the judgement and sentence in the prosecution of the Ministry of Social Development by WorkSafe New Zealand following the shootings in the Ashburton Work and Income Office in 2014. ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzBy Dr Alexandra Wake in Melbourne As a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Kirakira in the Solomon Islands early today, triggering a tsunami warning across the Pacific, many residents of the country would have ...

We are always comparing ourselves to other parents, but comparing yourself to animals probably isn’t always a good idea. Thom Adams explains why. Mother hens, tiger mums, pangolin dads… as parents, we do have a habit of comparing ourselves with ...

Every Friday, ‘The Album Cycle’ reviews a handful of new releases.ALBUM OF THE WEEKChildish Gambino – Awaken, My LoveGive it a first listen and you’d be forgiven for thinking Awaken, My Love! wasn’t a Childish Gambino record ...

Tara Ward does the unthinkable, and binge-watches 22 episodes of guinea pig dates on TVNZ Ondemand. It’s not often you enjoy a guinea pig’s quest for true love. Hardly ever, in fact. So when the televisual universe vomits up a ...

Henry Oliver tries to go deep with Los Angeles rapper Vince Staples, fails, and asks him about basketball and cartoons instead.Vince Staples is young, very skilled and very, very chill. He raps fast, but talks slow. His records are ...

As the country counts down to the Joseph Parker vs Andy Ruiz WBO world heavyweight championship fight, The Spinoff presents FIGHT WEEK, an inside look at the life and career of Joseph Parker. Today we’re republishing ‘Inside Team Parker’, the ...

With summer upon us, there is no better time to shut all the sunlight out of your room, pull a blanket over your head and watch TV until your eyes hurt. We assemble the best shows on Lightbox that you ...

Superstar of breakfast radio, All Black captain and owner of a world-class duck face, John Key is one hell of a hard act to follow. But is the PM-designate really that boring? Toby Manhire crushes forever the Dull Bill English ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzPacific countries on tsunami alert following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake off Solomon Islands. Image: USGS A tsunami warning has been issued for several Pacific countries – including Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu ...

He wants to be a tax-raising and lowering, eat-the-rich Trump-but-not-like-that of the political centre. Duncan Greive heads to Parnell for the Gareth Morgan party’s very odd first policy launch. “Make New Zealand fair again,” says Gareth Morgan, more than once ...

New verse by Dunedin writer Emma Neale.Tag From the tangle of trees by the Warrender Street steps near where city council crews have been deleting the fuck-cunts and dick pics sprayed on the path, sharper than the ...

‘Business is Boring’ is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and ...

John Key was first elected Prime Minister in 2008. What was New Zealand like when the era of radio banter, ponytail pulling, and bad singing was just beginning? Having trouble viewing the quiz? Take it here. ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzFear and Desperation: Refugees and Migrants Pour into Greece. Prizewinning footage shot in October 2015 – March 2016, Greece. Video: Rory Peck Awards Will Vassilopoulos, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) stringer since 2011, has won the Rory Peck ...

If we were able to speak to the people we were when we first became parents, what would we say? Kiri Speirs reaches back through the years to speak to the mum she was to her beloved daughter Zoe.Dear ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzOPINION:By Peter S. Kinjap in Port Moresby Many current Papua New Guinean parliamentarians are highly respected individuals in their own areas – successful in business, education or public service. With such backgrounds, they routinely attract great ...

Novelist Graeme Lay bids a belated farewell to Auckland’s least glamorous but most useful shopping centre. It was one of the ugliest buildings in Auckland’s central business district, in a part of town where there was tough competition for that ...

The latest installment of Final Fantasy has been released from its cage into the arms of millions of fans. Resident Fantas-ites(?) Eugenia Woo and Matthew Codd settled around the old Skype and discussed what worked, what didn’t and why the ...

In the face of everything from anecdote posing as evidence to bias peddlers to outright quackery, the best riposte is to champion good science. But how? Dr Jessica Berentson-Shaw offers seven tips. Science and evidence gets a pretty bad ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzA car is half buried under the remains of a collapsed house in Pidie Jaya regency, Aceh, on yesterday after an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale hit the northeastern part of the province. Image: ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzRappler’s Evening wRap on President Duterte and the death penalty.By Mara Cepeda in Manila A proposed measure seeking to reimpose the death penalty in the Philippines has decisively passed the House committee level. Voting 12-6-1, the ...

All week this week we recommend the very best, A-grade quality, guaranteed good books for Christmas. Today: The Shops, by Steve Braunias and Peter Black. Why do photographers talk so much? The best thing about working with Wellington photographer Peter ...

An in-depth Spinoff investigation reveals exactly who invented What Now gunge and unravels the mystery of the secret recipe. Calum Henderson reports. A traditional What Now gunging. (Photo: YouTube – ‘What Now’s Best Gunge!’) “I was gunged while wearing a ...

A byelection is likely in Mt Albert should David Shearer’s South Sudan challenge be confirmed, signalling the departure of the last ex-leader, and leaving the question hanging: did Labour err in knifing him? “Former leaders” are a mixed blessing for ...